1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a package for storing a suture or surgical thread. More particularly, the present invention relates to a package for storing a suture in such a manner that it has no bent portion or curling tendency when it is unpacked for use, wherein the suture includes one having a needle at neither end and one having a needle at an end. In this specification the former is referred to as an unneedled suture and the latter as a needled suture which is further classified into a single needled suture and a double needled suture. However unless specified to the contrary the end portion of a suture may include an unneedled end and a needled end.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are at least three kinds of sutures; one is unneedled, another is single-needled, and a third is double-needled. When they are stored in a package the common practice is that after a suture is cut to a given length, it is accommodated as it is wound around a plurality of pins. The package is wrapped in a plastic film, an aluminum foil or their composite sheet so as to protect the packed suture against moisture and dirt. When the packed suture is to be taken out, the package is unwrapped, and the end of the suture or the needle attached thereto is picked up through the opening of the package.
In packing a suture there are two important things to be observed; the first is to accommodate it in the package with no tangle or bent portion, and the second is to design the package in such a manner as to open readily and allow the user to pick up the packed suture smoothly.
To meet these requirements there have been made many proposals among which are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) Nos. 58(1983)-149750, 59(1984)-228845 and 60(1985)-148550.
The prior art packages consist of panels folded at least in three, so as to have functionally distinguished three sections. For example, a single-needled suture is accommodated in such a manner that the wound suture and its unneedled end are located in one section, and the needle is in another. The package disclosed in the No. 60-148550 Specification has five panels connected to each other by folds. The panels consist of a suture retaining panel, a needle retaining panel, a needle covering panel, a suture covering panel and a side panel. When the suture is provided with a needle at an end, the main body of the suture is wound around pins protruded through four apertures produced in the suture retaining panel, and the needle and the part of suture adjacent to the needle are inserted in respective slits produced in the needle retaining panel. The suture covering panel is folded onto the suture retaining panel, and the needle covering panel is folded onto the suture covering panel. Finally the side panel is folded onto the needle covering panel. In this way a package is finished.
The provision of the functionally distinguished panels is advantageous in that the suture is kept safe from becoming tangled, and that it is convenient for the user when the suture is unpacked from the package. However it is labor-consuming to make as many folded panels as five, and care must be especially taken when the needle is removed out of the slit in the package. More disadvantageously the part of suture adjacent to the needle becomes bent or curls.